


The twisted legend

by Pug1104



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Finds Out About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Bisexual Gwaine (Merlin), F/M, Female Merlin, Genderswap, Girl!Merlin, Good Morgana (Merlin), Gwaine Flirts (Merlin), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mutual Pining, Pining Gwaine (Merlin), Pining Merlin (Merlin), but it’s not graphic, fem!merlin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24051613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pug1104/pseuds/Pug1104
Summary: The legend got a lot wrong. Merlin was actually a woman forced to disguise herself as a man. Trying to juggle her destiny, her secrets, her job, and her love life is more difficult than she had ever imagined.
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 66





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is my third story, and I still don’t think I’m great at writing but the others have had a great response so I’m back! 
> 
> I don’t own Merlin or any of the characters!

There are times that the legends get twisted as they’re passed from person to person. Everyone adds their own embellishments and style until the real story is buried underneath the fiction. Such is the case for the tale of Merlin. It is true that Merlin was the most trusted advisor of the king, and that they were the most powerful user of magic that the world had ever and will ever see. But that was all they got right. You see, Merlin was actual Merlyn, and she was the king’s manservant. 

Yes, manservant. You see, Merlyn was forced to disguise herself as a man, both because a woman could not apprentice under Gaius, and because she feared being taken advantage of as she had been shortly before her journey to Camelot. She was a small, unassuming woman who seemed an easy target. She was petrified of the thought of going through that again, and the unfamiliarity of Camelot frightened her even more. So, as Merlin, she headed to Camelot to train under Gaius, and that is where our story begins.


	2. Season 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If only she had known that this would be her most boring year within the kingdom.

“Arthur is a complete prat” Merlyn concluded as she sat in the stocks after their first meeting. “All I did was defend his poor servant and this is my punishment? A little overboard if you ask me.” She laughed to herself, imagining his face if he had know that he threw a woman into the cells. 

But it hadn’t been all bad, she supposed. After all, she got to meet Gwen. At first, Merlyn thought it was a bit awkward. She could tell Gwen was trying to flirt with her because that’s how she would have flirted-stuttering and backtracking- had she been a woman. But Gwen was a kind soul and the witch knew that the serving girl could be a good friend in time. 

Then that bloody dragon tried convincing her that she and Arthur had a destiny together. He was massively surprised that she was a woman disguised, apparently thinking that the most powerful magician in the world had to be a man, but he quickly shook it off and told her the prophecy. Merlyn thought there was no way that prince prat could be this so called “once and future king.” 

And then she saved him from the dagger and was “rewarded” by being appointed his manservant. 

She tried everything she could to get fired at first. With her secrets, being in such close proximity to the prince was dangerous. But Arthur found her insolence amusing and refused to fire her. And overtime, she had come to see what kind of man he really was. 

It began with Valiant. Arthur had believed her when she told him what she had seen, and brought it before the king. She’d expected him to laugh at her story and be done with it, so she was pleasantly surprised. He was rather angry at her after his father’s response to the accusations, but she was starting to understand that the weight of the king’s expectations weighed on him and caused him to act like such a clotpole. 

Then, he defied his father’s orders to retrieve the mortaeus flower. By saving her life, he ensured himself a week in the dungeons and the wrath of the king. 

Lancelot was a surprise. She was a little besotted with him, if she were honest with herself. He was just so kind, and had saved her from the griffin. But she saw how in love with Gwen he already was, and figured she liked a man with a little more rugged look and sass to him anyways. Unfortunately, Lancelot was banished, leaving Merlyn with the knowledge that he knew of her magic (though not her gender) and accepted “him” anyways. 

And she still couldn’t believe that Arthur had followed her all the way to Ealdor to help her save her mother. Will was, unreasonably, pissed that she was hiding her gender. She had not told him of what happened shortly before she had left their little village, but she tried to explain to him that she could not live with Gauis as a woman nor could she serve the prince. He still yelled at her, claiming that was the reason that she should have stayed in Ealdor. Logically, the young servant knew that Will did not know what had happened to her, but she was still upset that he couldn’t read her well enough to understand that she just couldn’t stay. 

His death broke her heart. 

He was her oldest friend and the first person besides her mother to learn of her gift. She had suspected that he loved her, but she could never bring herself to see him as anything other than her best friend and brother. 

Within her first year living in Camelot, she had stopped a plague throughout the city, was poisoned, killed a griffin (with some help), saved the king, lost her oldest friend, stopped a unicorn curse, and became the master of life and death. If only she had known that this would be her most boring year within the kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Merlyn is disguised, the events of the first couple of seasons play out basically like normal, with a few added comments by our resident witch. Hope you liked it!


End file.
